In 2011 my family and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Disneyland. It was the most magical Christmas ever! During the Holiday’s all of Disneyland and Disneyland California is transformed to something that can only be experienced from Thanksgiving to the New Year. Even The Haunted mansion was transformed with The Nightmare Before Christmas theme. It was incredible! Modesto View friends, on Thanksgiving this year we went back to Disneyland and I was honored to be Goofy’s special guest at his Thanksgiving table. It was beyond amazing, those of you who know me personally know that I have no trouble finding my inner kid within myself . In fact, I am probably the only adult on record that races to a Disney character with the other children when I see one. Sorry kids, you don’t have a chance getting to Mickey first, I’m a fast runner. Well during our stay we were giving the insight on how to make the most of our Disneyland Holiday Experience. Below I’ve put together a helpful playlist that will not only help you save time in line, but also money. I’ve also included some helpful Disneyland amenity tips that most overlook.

Happy Christmas everyone and may the magic of Disneyland be with you always.

Your Disney Play List Below

Lockers in Disneyland have charging plugs for your camera and cell phones

If you have a pet, take advantage of The Disney pet day care.

Grab your spot 15 to 20 minutes in the center of Main Street prior to the fireworks show and to experience the snow fall that only happens in Main Street after the show.

Grab your spot 20 minutes early for the Disneyland parade. I’ve seen it in the day, but the nighttime is a bit more magical. Note: If you’re on the sideline front, you must sit on the floor so that others can see from behind you.

Hit The Haunted Mansion at night during the fireworks show, everyone is in Main St for the show. Note: you will still be able to see the fireworks show all over Disneyland and Disneyland California.

Have a meeting spot in case of an emergency and the family gets separated in the crowds.

Relax, utilize the train to get around Disneyland. It will drop you off at different themes throughout the park, and it will save you time and mileage on your feet.

When you first walk into Disneyland in the morning, look to see if there is any kind of car with a driver at the ready for his next family. Take advantage of that! The driver will shuttle you right to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Note: In 3 days we walked nearly 30 miles between both Disney parks and downtown Disney.

If you’re staying at the Disneyland hotel, take advantage of the monorail fist thing in the morning. Their is virtually no lines for it and it takes you right onto Tomorrowland Disney, then make your way quickly to Space Mountain and jump right on.

Start your Disney experience in California, be the first one at the cars attraction in the early morning, then after you get off the cars attraction, go immediately to grab a fast pass to do it again later. This ride is a must do attraction twice! Note. the track switches up so your first experience might not be the same as your last. Very Cool!

To avoid the long lines at hottest attractions, your magic morning should go to all the rides that have the longest lines during the day.

Map out all the Fastpass locations so if you pass one on your way to an attraction, you can get hooked up if Fastpass line is short. Note they move very fast and generally have attended to help move them along. a 5-8 minute wait for a fast pass will save you 1.5 hours in line.

Make sure you stop and look at your photo after riding The Buzz Light Year attraction. The photo is free and Disney will send it to you via your email!

Download The Disney phone app to find out the wait time for each attraction in the area your going to hit next and compare times for all rides in that area. If they all have heavy wait times, go to another themed section of the park. Sounds crazy, but everyone generally gets the same idea when you do. Be prepared to change it up on the fly.

Get yourself into character and dress yourself as fun as possible, Disney loves that kind of stuff and no worries, nobody knows you there anyway nor should you care. Have fun! Note: On Thanksgiving, I walked around with a giant Turkey on my head and just as soon as Disney noticed a line of people was forming just to take a photo with me in the park, they made me an Honorary Guest and gave me a badge. I didn’t think much of it till the Disney staff started to load me up with extra kudos during my Disney experience. WOW!

With the average meal going for around $14.00 with drink, make sure you have a big (protein) breakfast and take along a backpack with a large bottle of water and peanut butter sandwiches or your favorite snacks, nuts are great too. This will help to keep the hunger away and keep your wallet full for Disney memorabilia.

Disney Fitness tip. Make sure you take several comfortable walking shoes for each one of the days you spend at Disneyland, switching out your walking shoes per each Disneyland day will help you with your Disney walking marathon throughout the trip.

Pack along some pretzels in your backpack, the salt on the pretzels helps you retain water, thus will help you having to go the restroom in the middle of a ling line and/or loosing your spot with your family.

Comments

I answered the call back in 1983; mixing Music and Entertainment with an eccentric European style has always come easy for me. In the early 80's I was the Disc Jockey for most of the high school dances in Modesto. In the late 80's I found myself in Hollywood working as a dancer and sound engineer for various professional recording industries. In 1990 my wife of 25 years and I started (The Quake Mobile DJ ®) which was seeded from San Francisco's 1985, The Quake, radio station that only lasted a short while on the air. 26 years later The Quake Mobile DJ is bigger & better than ever in the Entertainment industry. Real-Estate, photojournalism, event promoter, saving animals, travel and fitness are a few other of my interests. I also enjoy motivational speaking to children and to those who are struggling with addiction. In my life, I have always been a very direct person and once I see a goal I won't quit till I've achieved it. But out of all of the above I feel in my heart that the best inspiration in my life is my wife and my love for the faith that I practice. Phil 4:20